“If people pay, that’s a strong signal you’ve built something valuable” — Kenneth Schlenker, Opal

Building a successful app business involves navigating numerous challenges, as demonstrated by Kenneth Schlenker, founder and CEO of Opal, a screen time management app. Opal, with a small team of seven, achieved a $5 million annual recurring revenue by adopting an unconventional strategy focused on product-market fit and a single performance metric, the 8-day return on ad spend (ROAS). Unlike many apps that start free, Opal launched with a premium subscription model, validating its value proposition early, and is now transitioning to a freemium model to attract more users. The company strategically chose to launch exclusively on iOS to streamline development and testing processes, avoiding the pitfalls of early multi-platform expansion. Through extensive A/B testing, Opal gleaned valuable insights, such as the importance of an early paywall, scheduled onboarding sessions, and tiered referral rewards, while cautioning against excessive testing.